


Next to Me

by 5ftjewishcactus



Series: The Anderson Family [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alive Cole Anderson, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Family Fluff, Gender or Sex Swap, Married Couple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-29 03:04:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19821235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/5ftjewishcactus/pseuds/5ftjewishcactus
Summary: In an alternate timeline where Cole is still alive and Hana and Connie still meet and fall in love, the three Andersons and their faithful furry companion have wonderful, family adventures. (f/f version)





	1. Some people call this wisdom

**Author's Note:**

> This is the f/f version of the m/m fic series by the same name. Part 1 is m/m, part 2 is f/f.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hana comes home after a rough case and spends it with her wife and son, glad to have them to come home to despite the ugliness of the world.

The sound of laughter and a barking dog greeted Hana as she reached the front door. She took a deep breath, letting the tension of the day melt away. She didn't want her family to know she'd had a terrible day. Didn't want to ruin their fun. With a smile, she opened the front door. Inside, her nine year old son Cole was chasing their dog Sumo around the living room.  
  
"Mama!" Cole shouted excitedly, running at Hana.  
  
Hana caught Cole and lifted him up to hug him. "Hey peanut!"  
  
Hana held her son close, his warmth and liveliness melting any remaining tension from the day.  
  
"Mama, I can't breathe," Cole teased.  
  
"Sorry peanut. Mama just missed you," Hana replied, putting Cole down. "Did you have a fun day?"  
  
"Yeah! Mom took me to the aquarium! We saw so many fish!"  
  
"You did? Which was your favorite fish?"  
  
"The hammerhead shark!"  
  
"They have a hammerhead shark at the aquarium?"  
  
"An android one," Connie said, from the kitchen door.  
  
Hana turned to look at her wife and smiled. Connie walked over and kissed Hana on the cheek.  
  
"I'm glad you're home," she said.  
  
"Me too. Rough day."  
  
Connie nodded and rubbed Hana's back. They'd agreed that work talk would be left for work but that if things cases brought up needed to be talked about, it would be done after Cole had gone to bed. He was only nine, he didn't need to know the ugliness of the world just yet.  
  
"Is dinner almost ready?" Cole asked.  
  
"Yes it is. Go wash up," Connie replied.  
  
Cole raced off towards the bathroom. Connie turned her full attention to Hana, pulling Hana in for a hug.  
  
"I'm sorry you had a rough day," she said.  
  
"Yeah." Hana held to Connie tightly, almost as tightly as she'd held Cole earlier. "I'm glad you and Cole had fun though."  
  
"Would've been more fun with you there too."  
  
Hana nodded. "Next time."  
  
Connie pulled back and looked at Hana, one hand reached up to cup Hana's cheek and rub along the edge of her cheekbone.  
  
"I love you," Hana said.  
  
"I love you, too," Connie replied.  
  
Hana kissed her.  
  
"Ew," Cole said. "Moms kissing."  
  
Hana chuckled. "Come here you."  
  
Cole gladly raced over and Hana hoisted him up again, balancing the boy on her hip as she kept one arm around Connie.  
  
"I love you both, so much," she said.  
  
"We love you, too, mama," Cole replied.  
  
Hana kissed Cole's cheek. Cole hugged his mother again. Hana closed her eyes and just let herself have that moment, with her son and wife in her arms. Tried not to think about the case, about the poor family fractured into pieces.  
  
"Okay, dinner's getting cold," Hana said.  
  
She set Cole down and watched him race into the kitchen. Connie looked up at Hana, LED flashing yellow a moment.  
  
"I'll be okay," Hana said. "I promise."  
  
Connie nodded. "Love you."  
  
"Love you, too."  
  
Hana kept her arm around Connie's back as they headed to the kitchen. Cole was seated at the table, waiting not so patiently for dinner to be served. Hana let go of Connie so she could join her son at the table while Connie grabbed dinner from the stove. She'd made spaghetti with squash and mushrooms, seasoned with garlic and Italian herbs.  
  
"We may have stopped to buy ice cream for dessert," Connie said, setting the serving dish down in the center of the table.  
  
"Oh, ice cream?" Hana asked.  
  
"Rocky road!" Cole exclaimed.  
  
"Good pick, peanut," Hana grinned.  
  
"No ice cream unless you eat all your dinner," Connie said.  
  
"Yes mom."  
  
Hana dished up spaghetti for Cole and herself. Connie dished up a smaller helping for herself. While she'd installed an upgrade that allowed her to eat, she still ate less than either Hana or Cole, since she didn't need it to survive. She ate because she liked to, like the time enjoying food with her family. It was also nice to have her eating with them, then just sitting there watching them eat.  
  
Hana listened while her son excitedly told her about the other fish they'd seen at the aquarium around mouthfuls of food. The case was still at the back of her mind, always would be until it was solved. Sometimes even after. After all her years as a cop, the fact that cases still affected her wasn't actually a bad thing. Reminded her that she was still human, still alive, still had a reason to keep fighting, to find the bad guys and put them away. To keep the world safe for her son. Some people might've thought Hana foolish, but Hana liked to think of it as wisdom. 


	2. I thought you had forgotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie wakes up to a birthday surprise from her son and wife.

Sometimes the ability to sleep was a wonderful thing. Connie had been at work late the night before, processing evidence from her and Hana's newest case. She'd told Hana to go home without her, could process through the evidence faster and they always tried to have one of them home for dinner with Cole. As much as Connie would've liked to have been home for dinner with her family, the evidence needed to be processed if they were going to solve the case.   
  
By the time she'd come home, Cole was already in bed and Hana not too far behind him. Connie had gone to kiss Cole good night, a promise they'd made the first time one of them had worked late. Cole seemed to sleep better once he knew both his parents were home. Connie didn't blame him. She slept better knowing Cole and Hana were safe.   
  
After the late night and the difficulty of the case, Connie had curled into bed with Hana and fallen asleep. She'd known she'd been a little on edge, a little frayed, but she hadn't expected to go into stasis when she'd fallen asleep. Sleeping and stasis weren't too different. Waking up from either always left Connie feeling better, more alert and focused. Sleeping regularly meant she didn't need to enter stasis nearly as often.   
  
Sleeping while also in stasis meant that Hana could easily sneak out of bed without Connie knowing. Meant that her wife and her son could surprise her.   
  
"Surprise!" Cole shouted, standing by the edge of the bed.  
  
He was carefully holding a tray containing a plate of pancakes, a cup of coffee, and a glass of thirium. Behind him stood Hana, holding a giant balloon that said "Happy birthday!" in bright bubbly letters in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other. Sumo stood next to Cole, mostly interested in the plate of pancakes, but drooling happily at the excitement.  
  
"What's all this?" Connie asked, sitting up.  
  
"Mama and I made you birthday breakfast," Cole replied.  
  
"Birthday?" Connie asked.   
  
Hana shrugged. "You said your activation day was August 15th. Seems as good a day as any to celebrate a birthday."  
  
Connie grinned. "You remembered."  
  
"Of course I did."  
  
"I remembered too, mom!" Cole added.  
  
"Thank you. Both of you."  
  
Cole stepped forward and carefully handed the tray to Connie, who set it on her lap. She pat the bed next to her and Cole climbed onto the end of the bed and up to sit next to Connie.  
  
"Thank you, for my birthday breakfast," Connie said, pulling Cole in for a hug.  
  
"You're welcome, mom. I love you."  
  
"I love you, too."  
  
Connie kissed the top of Cole's head. Hana watched the two of them with a great big smile on her face. She set the bouquet down on the bedside table and tied the string of the balloon to the drawer handle. She then sat down on Cole's other side. Connie reached behind Cole to cup Hana's face and rub her cheek.   
  
"Love you," Hana said.  
  
"Love you, too," Connie replied.  
  
"Mooooom," Cole said, elongating the word. "Eat your breakfast. Mama and I have plans for today!"  
  
"Plans? What about work?"  
  
"Gwen and Cait are helping with the case. We deserve a day off."  
  
"Yeah mom, a day off. Now eat!"  
  
Connie chuckled, but did as her son said. The pancakes were whole wheat with chocolate chips. The coffee had dairy free French vanilla creamer. The thirium was just thirium which was for the best because outside of the alcoholic variant, anything mixed with thirium made it less effective.   
  
While Connie ate her breakfast, Cole explained that Hana had helped him buy tickets for the local zoo and they had a picnic lunch planned at the park outside the zoo where Aunt Sara would meet them with Sumo and then they were going to go to the dog park.   
  
Once Connie was done eating, she set the tray aside and pulled Cole onto her lap, giving the boy a great big hug.  
  
"Thank you again. For all of it. Today is going to be a great birthday," she said.  
  
"I love you, mom. When mama said you'd never had a birthday, I knew we had to fix that. Everyone deserves a birthday."  
  
"Yes, they do. I love you."  
  
Connie kissed Cole's cheek.   
  
"Moooom," Cole groaned.   
  
Connie chuckled. "Go get dressed so we can go to the zoo."  
  
"Yay!"  
  
Cole jumped up from the bed and raced down the hall to his room. Connie turned her attention to Hana.   
  
"I love you. Thank you," Connie said, shifting closer to Hana. "You didn't have to do any of this."  
  
"Yeah I did. You deserve all of it. And more." Hana leaned in and kissed her. "I love you. Happy birthday."  
  
Connie kissed her wife again.   
  
"Moms! Hurry up!" Cole shouted.  
  
Connie and Hana both laughed causing Sumo to bark as he raced out of the room. Connie couldn't blame her son's impatience. She was excited for the day too. It was going to be a good one. 


	3. This is gonna be so much fun!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hana, Connie, and Cole celebrate Halloween together, their first Halloween as a family and Connie's first-ever Halloween as a free android.

“This is gonna be so much fun!” Cole exclaimed.   
  
He was dressed in his Luke Skywalker ala Return of the Jedi Halloween costume. He swung his toy lightsaber around the living room, while Sumo barked excitedly next to him.  
  
“Yes it is,” Connie agreed. “Our first Halloween as a family.”  
  
Connie was dressed as Han Solo ala A New Hope.   
  
“Mama, hurry up!” Cole shouted.  
  
Hana grumbled as she stepped out of the bedroom. She was dressed as Princess Leia ala A New Hope. She still had her hair down but had worn a pair of earmuffs meant to look like Leia’s trademark buns.   
  
“I can’t believe you two talked me into this,” she said. “I look stupid. Why couldn’t I be Han Solo?”  
  
“You look great,” Connie reassured. “Besides, it was Cole’s choice, who got to be who.”  
  
“Yeah mama! You look great!” Cole added.  
  
Hana smiled. It was hard to be too grumpy in front of the endless enthusiasm of the two most important people in her life.   
  
“Alright, lets go before I change my mind,” Hana said.  
  
Cole grabbed his candy bucket which looked like Darth Vader’s mask. Connie put Sumo’s leash on him. Hana didn’t like the idea of leaving him home alone with kids running around outside plus Cole had said he could be their honorary Chewbacca.  
  
“Ready,” Connie said with a nod.  
  
Cole grinned and threw open the front door. A cold blast of late October air hit them. Detroit’s weather had decided it would be in the low thirties, which was better than negative twenty and snow like it had been Cole’s first proper Halloween. Still Hana had insisted they all bundle up. Cole wore several layers under his costume. Hana herself had a thick pair of long johns on underneath her white dress. Connie even had an extra layer on underneath her shirt and vest to help keep the cold from affecting her thirium pump.   
  
As they headed down the street, Hana and Connie stood at the end of each walkway leading to another door with Sumo as Cole went up to knock or ring a door bell to receive his prized candy. Their elderly neighbor, Margot, who regularly watched Cole insisted on seeing all three of them together.   
  
“Good to see the love for Star Wars continue on,” she smiled at the three of them.  
  
A few more of their neighbors that they knew in passing complimented their matching costumes. A few older kids walking their younger siblings snickered and muttered comments under their breathe, but Hana managed to ignore them. Mainly because of her family. She’d been surprised when Cole had wanted to do a family costume. Sure, it was their first Halloween as a family and Connie’s first real Halloween.   
  
But Cole was ten now. Hana figured he’d want to dress up as something of his own and go trick-or-treating with his friends. His best friend’s mom had even offered to take him but Cole had insisted that he was going trick-or-treating with his moms. Moms. Hearing Cole say it still warmed Hana’s heart. While she and Connie weren’t yet legally married, android-human marriage was still a little ways off from being legalized, as far as they were concerned, they might as well have been. And Cole loved Connie as much as Hana did. Had started calling her mom three months after she’d moved in with them.   
  
Connie had cried the first time, overwhelmed that Cole saw her as not just family but as a parent. Now whenever Cole called her mom, she beamed. She felt so blessed to be Cole’s mom. And Hana’s wife.   
  
“Mom! Mom, do the trick!” Cole said while excitedly jumping up and down in front of Connie.   
  
Two of Cole’s friends were standing behind him, waiting for this amazing trick.   
  
Connie, using her voice modulator to perfectly mimic Harrison Ford, said “Never tell me the odds.”  
  
Cole laughed as his friends cheered excitedly.  
  
“Do another one!”   
  
“You’ve never heard of the Millennium Falcon? It’s the ship that made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs.”  
  
Cole’s friends cheered again. Hana smiled. She sometimes worried, after the revolution, how other people would react to Connie. And to she and Connie. So far most people had been pretty accepting. The school hadn’t blinked an eye when Hana had shown up and requested Connie be put on as Cole’s second parent and emergency contact. Cole’s friends were impressed with Connie as an android and their parents liked seeing Hana happy.  
  
“Never upset a Wookiee,” Connie said, in Ford’s voice and as if on cue, Sumo barked.   
  
“Alright, time to get a move on. Too cold for all four of us to be standing out here chitchatting. Back to trick-or-treating, kids,” Hana said.  
  
The kids ran off to the next house. Connie linked arms with Hana as they walked behind them to meet them at the next walkway.  
  
“Thank you for coming out with us,” Connie said.  
  
“As long as Cole wants me to, I’ll gladly bring him trick-or-treating. And I’m glad to share it with you,” Hana replies. “Even if I feel ridiculous.”  
  
“Well you don’t like ridiculous. I think you look very attractive.”  
  
Hana smiled shyly. She'd spent so many years alone, or struggling to find someone who loved her for who she was, that sometimes being around Connie, who loved all of her unabashedly and unashamed, could be overwhelming. But in a good way.   
  
They walked with Cole and his friends and his friends' parents a few more blocks. Connie and Hana chitchatted with the other parents, talking about the upcoming PTA meeting, and other unimportant nonsense to pass the time. The kids were busy chatting away about their various candy prizes as well as the candy apple they'd been given by one ambitious neighbor.   
  
As the night progressed, the night became colder and the kids more tired. Eventually they made their way back home. Hana allowed Cole to have two pieces of candy before putting the rest away in a cupboard in the kitchen to ration over the next few weeks. Connie tucked Cole into bed, Sumo curled up at the end of Cole's bed to take his place as Cole's guard dog.   
  
Hana had changed into her pajamas once they were home. Connie leaned against the bedroom door, smiling as she watched Hana carefully hang up and put away her Princess Leia costume. Hana turned around to see Connie watching her and smiled back.  
  
"I love you," Hana said.  
  
"I know," Connie replied, with a smirk.  
  
"Don't you Han Solo me you... you scoundrel."  
  
Connie walked up to Hana, speaking with Ford's voice. "You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your life."  
  
Hana took a deep breath. "That's so not fair. You can't use my crush on Harrison Ford against me."  
  
Connie chuckled. "I only tease you because I love you."  
  
Hana shook her head even as she put her arms around Connie's waist. "Yeah, love you, too."  
  
Connie gently tugged Hana's chin, pulling her in for a kiss.   
  
"Come on, Princess, let's go to bed."  
  
Connie winked and Hana knew, with Connie still dressed as Han Solo, that she was in for a very fun Halloween night. 


	4. I'll tell you but you're not gonna like it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cole gets in trouble at school. Hana uses it as a teaching moment for her son.

Hana looked between her son, who was seated at the kitchen table with his hands folded in his lap and his head down, and her wife, who was looking very stern while her LED pulsed yellow.  
  
“Just tell me,” Hana said.  
  
“Cole got into a fight at school,” Connie replied.  
  
“What?”  
  
Connie held up her hands. “He was trying to stand up to a bully. Unfortunately, Johnny only shoved another student while Cole threw the first punch.”  
  
“He punched another kid?”  
  
Hana moved to lean against the back of the couch. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to figure out how her son could do such a thing.  
  
“His heart was in the right place. He only reacted poorly. Johnny has been picking on several other kids for weeks. Cole had had enough.”  
  
Hana sighed. “That only slightly makes it better.”  
  
“I know. But Cole has apologized to Johnny and will serve in school suspension tomorrow.”  
  
Hana nodded. “Okay.”  
  
She knew what she needed to do next. She walked into the kitchen and sat down in the chair next to Cole’s.  
  
“Hey peanut,” she said. “I heard what happened today.”  
  
“I'm sorry, mama,” Cole said, still not looking at his mother.  
  
“Thank you. I appreciate that. And I understand wanting to stand up to a bully. But violence isn’t the answer.”  
  
“I know, mama. Johnny’s just so… big and mean.”  
  
“Doesn’t mean we get bigger and meaner.”  
  
Cole nodded. Hana reached over and rubbed Cole’s shoulder.  
  
“I love you, Cole. Your heart was in the right place. Next time, use your words and not your fists. Got it?”  
  
“Yes, mama.”  
  
“Good. Come here.”  
  
Cole finally looked up at his mother before throwing himself into Hana’s arms, crying against his mother’s shoulder. Hana held her son and rubbed his back.  
  
“It’s okay, peanut. I love you.”  
  
“I love you, too, mama. I’m so sorry.”  
  
“It’s okay. We all make mistakes. And we learn from them.”  
  
Hana looked over to Connie who was watching them from the doorway. Connie smiled which caused Hana to smile back. Cole clung to his mother and Hana held him just as tightly. He was a good kid. And even with what had happened, Hana was proud of him. 

**Author's Note:**

> You can follow me on tumblr [@5ftjewishcactus](https://5ftjewishcactus.tumblr.com/) or on twitter on my main [@5ftjewishcactus](https://twitter.com/5ftjewishcatus) or on my sfw gen fandom [@2ambiace](https://twitter.com/2ambiace) or my dbh [@asexualhankcon](https://twitter.com/asexualhankcon).


End file.
